Fresh off their Winter Classic loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, the Chicago Blackhawks returned to the United Center looking to bounce back against the Montreal Canadiens.

Game Summary

The game got off to a familiar start, as Montreal managed three point-blank chances in the first 44 seconds. Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Söderblom made the stops and maintained the tie. 3:21 into the first, Frank Nazar drew a slash and a trip on the same play, sending Chicago to a two-minute five-on-three powerplay.

Tyler Bertuzzi put home a cross-ice dish from Teuvo Teräväinen to give the Hawks their league-leading 24th “first goal of the game.” It was Bertuzzi’s team-leading 13th goal of the season. Montreal killed off the remaining 37 seconds of the powerplay.

The next shift, Pat Maroon and Arber Xhekaj dropped the gloves, with Maroon coming out on the wrong side of some lefts.

Montreal would tie the game with 1:36 left when Cole Caufield walked in unmolested and roofed a shot over Söderblom. It looked like a miscommunication between Alex Vlasic and Louis Crevier.

Vlasic drifted backward to defend the pass, but Crevier couldn’t get to the net front to handle Caufield. It’s also worth noting that Jason Dickinson failed to check his left shoulder and lost Lane Hutson (48) completely.

The Blackhawks took a 2-1 lead 7:05 into the second when Nick Foligno redirected a Wyatt Kaiser point shot past Habs goalie Samuel Montembeault. It was Foligno’s eighth goal of the season.

In the waning moments of the period, Nazar got a partial breakaway and nearly scored on a beautiful forehand-backhand, but Montembeault got a piece with his right skate.

The Blackhawks would begin the third period on the penalty kill, as Vlasic was called for hooking as the second expired. They’d kill it off with relative ease. Moments later, the Hawks would get a three-on-two with Craig Smith, Ryan Donato, and Maroon. Donato would set up Maroon in front, and Chicago took a 3-1 lead.

Montreal would cut the Hawks’ lead to 3-2 after Emil Heineman batted a puck out of mid-air and behind Söderblom. The puck had ricocheted off the back boards and into the air. Heineman swatted it perfectly.

Foligno sealed the deal with his second goal of the game after Vlasic hit both posts on one shot. After a furious scramble in front, Foligno finally got the puck over the line.

Hawks win 4-2.

Jay’s Final Thoughts

I Tweeted and Skeeted before the game that I felt this game would have one of two possible outcomes…blowout win or blowout loss. 4-2 doesn’t count as a blowout win, obviously, and over the course of 60 minutes, Montreal was the better team overall, but my main concern was how the Hawks would respond after a brutal Winter Classic loss…a loss after which their GM came down and gave them what for.

I loved the response. The Hawks were physical from jump, led by a pair of big hits from Dickinson. “My #1 goal for the first shift was to go out there and try to be physical,” Colton Dach said after the game. “Dicky set the tone the first shift, and it fed right through to the end of the game.”

“We left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, ourselves mostly, in how we played in that Winter Classic,” Foligno commented after the win. “We want to make sure we’re proud of the brand of hockey we’re putting out there. I’m really proud of every guy for stepping up tonight.”

What’s frustrated me most about the Blackhawks this season, and especially lately, is the fact that we’ve all known they’re capable of playing this way, and have too often refused. For one night, things seemed right.

Will this win be a one-off, or will the Winter Classic loss finally be the catalyst for turning their efforts around? We’ll find out on Sunday afternoon when the Blackhawks host the Rangers.

Nuggets and Timbits

• The Blackhawks began this game by laying the body and playing physically. Dickinson had a pair of solid hits in his first shift, Maroon dropped the gloves, and the Hawks showed fight in front of both nets.
• Dach was impressive in his NHL debut. He had five shots on goal and five hits in the contest.
• During their first-period power play, Nick Suzuki crushed Nolan Allan with a hit. It was impressive.
• Söderblom’s 38-save performance matched his season high. He also stopped 38/40 Anaheim shots in a 4-2 win on November 3rd.
• Bertuzzi’s 13th goal of the season tied him with the likes of Matthew Tkachuk, David Pastrnak, Cale Makar, and Zach Hyman…just as we all predicted.
• With his assist on Bertuzzi’s goal, Bedard moved past Patrick Kane to second all-time in points (95) by a Blackhawks teenager behind only Eddie Olczyk (129).
• Bedard’s assist extended his point streak to six games (3G – 5A). He has 15 points in 13 games under Anders Sorensen.
• This was Kaiser’s first game since being recalled from Rockford on December 29th. He finished the game with one assist, one shot on goal, and a +1 rating over 17:57 of ice time.
• Mario Tirabassi found this note. After the first period, Montreal had an 8-7 high-danger scoring chance advantage at all strengths. At five-on-five, they had a 6-0 high-danger scoring chance advantage. In the third period, the Hawks had a 6-1 advantage. Instead of fading late, they finished strong. Good to see.